Abstract

Objective: The study aims to identify strains of bacterial organisms causing urinary tract infections (UTI), and to determine the pattern of antibiotic susceptibility at a secondary care hospital in Samail, Oman.

Methods: A retrospective evaluation of microbiological culture sensitivity data was conducted using the database of total 155 patients reported with UTI infection between the months of July to December 2016 (6 months) at the department of microbiology in Samail Hospital in Oman.

Results: Out of total 559 cases in database cultured for UTI organism 155 patients met the inclusion criteria with a positive test and the remaining 404 patients showed negative test results either mixed growth or absence of microorganisms. Data was analyzed for 155 UTI cases reported at Samail Hospital. UTI was more commonly observed among age groups 25 - 36 years (n = 37, 24%) and less frequently among age group of 37 - 48 years (6%). The infection was highly prevalent among females (n = 106, 68%) compared to males (n = 49, 32%). E. coli predominated to cause UTI in 118 patients (76%). Other organisms isolated from remaining 37 (24%) patients included Klebsiella pneumonia (n = 2, 6%), Pseudomonas aerugionsa (n = 3, 3%), and others. Empirical treatment for UTI included antibiotics such as amoxicillin, ciprofloxacin, co-amoxiclav, cefuroxime, and nitrofurantoin. High level of resistance was observed with ampicillin (n = 102, 66%) followed by cephradine (n = 48, 31%). The level of sensitivity was more with ciprofloxacin, coamoxiclav, and nitrofurantoin. E. coli isolated from most patients showed the highest sensitivity to ciprofloxacin (57%), co-amoxiclav (50%) and nitrofurantoin (49%) but with noticeable resistance to ampicillin (66%).

Conclusion: Study concludes that UTI are common among the age group of 25 - 36 years highly affecting females more than males. E. coli predominated to cause UTI. Most isolated organisms showed the highest resistance to ampicillin and highest sensitivity to ciprofloxacin. ciprofloxacin may be a better empirical choice compared to amoxicillin among Omani population.